Browsing conventionally includes searching, accessing, and viewing information stored and provided by an information system without necessarily knowing of the existence or the format of the information being sought. A conventional browser includes a program performed on a client computer that is coupled via a network to one or more information systems acting as servers. Such a browser may have facilities to accept information from a principal (e.g., a human user or other software such as an operating system, agent, or daemon) and provide that information for storage on the information system. For example, a user may browse product advertising provided by an information system and then enter a transaction to specify a purchase order for particular products directed to a suitable information system. The browser converts messages from the server for display to the user; and, converts selections and inputs from the user into messages for presentation to the server. Conventional networks permit documents from the server to be provided in a markup language. Messages in a conventional network conform to a transport protocol. For example, when clients and servers are coupled to the Internet or World Wide Web, messages to the client include documents in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML); and, messages between the client and the server conform to HyperText Transport Protocol (HTTP).
An HTML document for a particular transaction may include software facilitating transfer of information to the server according to a POST command of HTTP. Generally, the POST command is customized for each data transfer operation due in part to particulars of the data storage mechanism designed for this transaction and hosted by the server. Consider, for example, a web page that provides a book order form. The form may include a list of titles and prices offered for sale using elements specific to the server, such as, BookTitle and BookPrice. The mechanism engaged to submit the order generally constructs a POST command reciting elements that are specific to the server, such as, BookTitle and QuantityRequested. The process at the server that accepts the order must recognize the elements provided in the POST command, such as, BookTitle=Gardening and QuantityRequested=2.
What is needed is a system and method for providing and updating information that is less dependent on elements specific to the manner in which information is accessed on the server. By providing an access technique according to various aspects of the present invention, custom programming for the server may be reduced or eliminated. Such custom programming includes the design of web pages that provide information to a user and the design of web pages and software for accepting information from the user. Without the systems and methods of the present invention, cost savings for web page design and maintenance will go unrealized; and information provided by users of a first group will not be provided in a timely manner to users of a second group due to the need for custom programming to be installed to automatically link the two.